Melt Me
by FaeryWriter
Summary: When on a job with Lucy, Gray, Erza and Happy, Natsu meets a girl known as monster to those around her. She froze up every feeling that was close to love. So can Natsu manage to thaw her heart? Can he melt her? Natsu x OC. ((I don't own Fairy Tail, it all belongs to the amazing Hiro Mashima!))
1. Chapter One

Chapter One

Chaerin sat up straight, pushing her self onto the edge of the sofa she sat on, listening sharply for the bang she heard, to sound again. There was no sound for a second then a loud crash echoed in the silence. Suddenly she felt a presence enter the fifty meter radius she could feel around her.

"Could you be any louder, Natsu?" asked a girl's voice. Chaerin glanced up towards her window and slowly walked towards the glass, peering out. A pink haired boy in a black vest-jacket stood on the cobblestone outside of her house, standing triumphantly next to a cavity in the ground. Just outside of her fifty meter range were a blonde girl, a red haired woman and a shirtless man, all rolling their eyes at the rosy haired boy.

"Aye~" Chaerin jumped as a blue blur passed her window, diving to the ground to hide. "Natsu's too loud!" She peeked back up to see a blue cat with pure white wings sprouted from its back, hovering next to the pink haired boy. The boy was now turned to face Chaerin, so she could see his face. He looked quite attractive, the broad grin lighting up his face. The blonde girl, followed by the others walked into the fifty meter range and made Chaerin shiver, watching them look around the town. They wandered around, looking through windows and knocking on doors.

"Where's this monster we're lookin' for?" asked the rosy boy, turning and looking directly at Chaerin. "Hey, you!" he cried, running at her and making her jump up. She ran fast towards the wooden stairs of her house, up into her bedroom and slamming the door hard, leaning back against it. She heard a loud banging on the door below her, shouting and pounding. Chaerin breathed out, sighing and turning around with closed eyes.

"Man, that was close." she breathed, opening her eyes.

"Aye~" the blue cat smiled, right in Chaerin's face. She cried out, scrambling up and heaving the door open, coming face to face with the shirtless guy.

"Ya~ What do you want?" Chaerin yelped, leaping back in surprise. The shirtless guy frowned and put his hand on her shoulder. She flinched, staring at his hand on the black cloth strap on her shoulder.

"Hey, don't worry, we're here to get rid of the monster for you." he smirked, cockily, "I'm Gray Fullbuster, what's your name?" Chaerin blinked up at him with blank eyes. A sick feeling stirred in her stomach, making her face pale and eyes go darker.

"What monster?" she whispered. Gray moved his hand, sensing something different in the little girl when the monster was mentioned. He looked down at her, noticing the blue-y gray of her eyes go near black. He frowned and stepped back slightly. "I said, what monster?" Gray frowned, feeling with his foot behind him, to make sure it was safe to step back. The girl followed after him, her hands balled tight into paper white fists.

"Ah~ Happy, let's get outta here!" he called to the blue cat still flying behind the girl's head. With that, he turned on his heel and raced down the stairs and out of the unhinged door that Natsu had ripped apart prior to his meeting with the girl. He wondered if convincing Natsu and Erza that he should talk to girl was a good idea or not. When he got outside, he saw Erza standing at the other end of the small, stone village. She was standing at the mouth of a forest, her red hair standing out against the various shades of green. She turned on her heel to look at him.

"Yes, Gray? Did the girl know anything?" Gray walked over, nearly running away from the house.

"I don't know. She was really scared, then she got really scary when I mentioned the monster." Erza frowned, glancing at the white stone house, the only one that seemed to be inhabited. Natsu and Lucy walked over too, standing next to Gray, in front of Erza.

"The only lead we seem to have is that girl. Let's go talk to her." Erza strode forward strongly, being followed by a worried Gray and the curious Natsu and Lucy.

Chaerin took in a deep breath, forcing herself to stop shaking as she stood at the stop of the stairs. She heard stomping clanks of metal armour bouncing off the walls of her house. She assumed it was the scarlet haired woman that was with Gray. Chaerin stepped back, chewing her pink lip, ripping a piece of chapped skin away and letting the metallic blood fill her mouth.

"Hello!" called the woman, her scarlet hair flicking out of her face and showing off her eyes. "You need to tell us what you know about the monster!" she cried out, stamping up the stairs in an angry manner. Chaerin's eyes widened and she flinched back from the redhead.

"Wait, Erza-" Before Gray could finish, the wood underneath the woman's feet melted, becoming hot molten slush beneath her. She began to fall, her feet burning from the intense heat that had melted the stairs. "Erza!" Gray cried, freezing the ground to stop her skin burning away when she hit it. The rosy haired boy looked up at Chaerin, seeing the red soles of her black shoes slowly going back to their original colour.

"Did you do this?" he yelled, setting fire to his fists as he balled them up, ready to jump up and hit Chaerin. "I don't care who you are, don't start a fight with Fairy Tail!" Chaerin stared at the boy, realising that his face looked somewhat familiar, and she tried to place his face to memory.

"No, Natsu, leave her. We need her for the monster hunt." 'Erza' spoke out clearly, shoving her arm out in front of 'Natsu' while the blonde girl hugged him from behind, forcing him to stay put. Gray glanced back up at Chaerin, catching her gray eyes in his blue ones.

"It isn't a monster hunt." The group all looked up at Chaerin, surprised by her sudden voice. It was deep and smooth, a voice that anyone would love to hear read them bedtime stories and sing lullabies. Much more mature than the girl that stood before them looked. "Because I'm the monster. . ." Natsu let out a loud laugh, a wide grin forming on his face along with a look of determination. He punched his fist into his palm, staring directly into Chaerin's cold eyes.

"Great, that means two birds with one stone, right?" Natsu flamed up, bending his knees and readying to leap at Chaerin. "Now I'm all fired up!"

"Wait, Nats-" the blonde girl cried, reaching up to grab him but missed and her fingers skimmed the trimmings of his vest. Natsu raised his fist as he got closer to Chaerin, crying out and readying to hit her. She rolled her eyes and snapped her fingers, dispersing; so he flew through the spot she once stood in, and reformed beside the same space. Natsu yelled and threw himself back at her, attempting to hit her again, but she dodged and he fell from second floor to the first from the gap where the stairs had once been. The blue cat dived forward, soaring to catch Natsu before he hit the ground and lifted him back to face Chaerin.

"Natsu! Stop!" yelled Erza, standing back from the iced ground to be next to the blonde. Natsu turned to look over his shoulder at Erza, sending her a determined smile.

"Why should I? Our job is to kill the monster and if she's the monster, then let's do it!" he smirked, not noticing Chaerin walking up behind him. He realised too late, because by the time he noticed, her pale hand was wrapped tightly around his forearm. "Huh?" His gaze traveled down her arm and latched onto his own which was becoming black, the dark skin spreading from where she was clutching it. He twitched as he felt a burning sensation under his skin, but it also felt ice cold at the same time. "Gah, that's hurts!" he cried, forcing his other hand to move though it also hurt, trying to pry her thin fingers from their deadlock.

"Natsu!" the blonde girl yelled, she dug through her pocket and called out: " Open the Gate to the Lion, Leo!" while flashing a golden key in front of her. After a flash of bright light that lasted only a second, a man with a mane of golden hair and a suit appeared.

Natsu was still trying to force the girl away from him, digging his fingers into the skin of her arm in an attempt to shake her loose. He couldn't shake the feeling he knew the girl, and it made it difficult to fight her. He glanced back to see Loke running towards him, when suddenly the stairs reappeared, trapping Loke inside. Loke beat his fists against the wood, calling out. Natsu slowly turned to face the girl. She was a bit smaller than he was, her white hand outstretched towards the stairs. She dropped her arm and locked eyes with Natsu. He felt something sharp dig at his heart under her glare but only stared back. The burning in his arm was beginning to subside, when he looked, the blackness was disappearing, leaving hot patches of blotchy red skin in its place. Under his skin, he could feel the blood running through his veins, making him itchy, but when he scratched he felt the burn again.

"What. . . What did you do?" he whispered, his head felt fuzzy and his arm, weak and heavy. The girl smiled for the first time, making her eyes go wide and blank which unnerved Natsu.

"I froze the blood in your veins, if I held you any longer, you would have died, so be thankful." The unnatural smile slipped from her lips for a second, being replaced by a sweet, genuine smile which tingled Natsu's heart a little. But it disappeared as fast as it had appeared and the blank face from before made her look like a statue.

"Who. . . ?" Natsu couldn't keep his eyes open, the blood stopping had affected his brain and he could barely think straight. He tried to look at the girl but it took all his effort not to fall backwards, down the stairs.

"Me? I'm Chaerin Park, nice to meet you." With that, Natsu fell back onto the stairs and tumbled down, unconscious.


	2. Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Erza ran to catch Natsu, unaware that her armour would just hurt him more, and proceeded to slap Natsu's face repeatedly, to awaken him, until Gray held her arm back, telling her it wouldn't help him. Gray felt like there was something going on, something deeper than he or even Erza could see and that was why Chaerin hadn't killed Natsu. Lucy stood in the direct line of sight that Chaerin would have used to see Natsu, demanding the release of Loke, who's banging had slowed from lack of oxygen. Gray stood beside Lucy, glaring at Chaerin, lightly. She looked down at them blankly, not looking into their eyes, but past them, at their hair line like she couldn't bear to look at them. Erza then rose from her knees to stand behind the two of them.

"Why have you stolen the Town's Jewel from them. You have nothing to gain from staying here with it either!" Erza's voice was scarily calm. Gray cast a side glance at her, frowning but saying nothing, knowing it wasn't worth the pain. Chaerin frowned, glaring at Erza.

"Who says I've stolen it? Them in the town? They're trying to steal it from me! They've had so many Mage Guilds come in and try to kill me, to take the Jewel from me!" Chaerin snapped, clicking her fingers and making the staircase, it seemed, blow up. A heated puff of air blew back the group's hair and left a pale, ill-looking Loke gasping for air, curled up on the floor.

"What. . . What kind of magic is that?" he panted, turning to look up at Chaerin with half lidded eyes. She looked down at him, with something like pity in her eyes.

"It's called Particle Control. I can change the state of anything and make it any shape I want." she told him, sitting down and swinging her legs. Loke blushed, turning around because he could see her panties and it would distract him from a serious enemy.

Natsu opened his eyes, a frown on his lips. After listening to what the girl had said, it would be pointless of her to stay in the stone village if she had stolen the jewel, especially if a lot of Guilds try to take it. And it would explain her reaction to more people entering the town. If the girl was being truthful, it would be wrong to kill her and let the townspeople have the Jewel, but if she was lying it would be wrong to let her live and keep the Jewel. Natsu thought back to the people in the village. They had said that Chaerin was a huge, ugly monster when really she was a cute, little girl and they had seemed really reluctant to give information about the Jewel. So, he decided. He jumped up and leaned on Gray and Erza, a goofy smile lighting his face up in the gloom.

"Why didn't you just say that, then?" he laughed, walking up to her and holding out his arms for her to jump into. She stared at him from between her legs then smiled warmly, jumping down and letting him catch her.

"Natsu, I don't think that's a good idea. . ." Lucy trailed off. Erza clenched her fist at Chaerin, while Gray readied himself to Ice-Make Lance. Loke sat up, leaning towards Lucy, ready to protect her if needs be. Natsu glanced up at them before looking back down at the little girl with a frown.

"I actually believe in Chaerin," Natsu shrugged carelessly, lazily leaning on her shoulder with an arm around her neck, loosely. "Her story makes more sense than the Town's. Plus, if she's a Mage, it explains why they couldn't just take the Jewel away, right?" Natsu pulled Chaerin even closer and then laughed, "Also, I want another chance to fight her and if she's in prison, I can't do that." The others sweat dropped while Lucy said:

"He really does have a one track mind, doesn't he?" Gray sighed and nodded, while Erza stared at Natsu and Chaerin. Her eyes were cold and impossible to see through. No one said anything, all eyes on Erza, watching her work in her mind. Suddenly, her gaze snapped from the ground to Chaerin's eyes and she smiled as warmly as Natsu had done moments before.

"Well, if Natsu trusts you, then so do I. Welcome to Fairy Tail." Erza's tone changed from frightening to caring so fast that Chaerin couldn't even process her words for a minute. And a minute is all it took.

"So, Chaerin-chan, where's the Jewel? We can give it to Master at the Guild and he'll keep it really safe for you." The blonde girl, Lucy, walked in step with Chaerin, glancing up at the cold face of her new Nakama and gulping. Chaerin looked up at Erza and Gray walking a few meters ahead, talking in hushed voices, and then back at Natsu, who was loudly engaged in a conversation about which type of fish tasted better as sushi when it was with brown rice, with Happy the blue cat. She turned back to Lucy and smiled a forced and unnatural smile which only appeared on her lips and was not at all genuine while shaking her head.

"I can't tell you, my apologies, Lucy-san. But if you want you could stay here until I get back with it." Lucy nodded, understanding that she wasn't trusting them immediately, for all she knew it was a ploy but the Town for her Jewel. Lucy jumped a little in surprise as Chaerin dispersed, leaving a small gust of strong wind in her place. Natsu ran up to catch Lucy.

"Where did she go?" he asked, placing his hand on Lucy's shoulder and making her hairs stand on end at the skin ship. Erza and Gray also turned around and waited for the other's to catch up to them.

"She went to get the Jewel-"

"And she'll be back?" asked Gray, suspiciously, glancing at the bushes to his right. They were in the middle of a fairly large forest that thick and green on either side. The track they walked was made of dust and sand, clearly made by hurried people as it was rocky, and uneven, swaying left or right at some points instead of staying straight.

"Yes." said Natsu, bluntly, frowning and beginning to walk on before sitting on a cream coloured rock off the side of the path. "But I should stay and wait for her. Maybe I can convince her to give the Jewel to the townsfolk." Natsu kicked his feet out in front of him and leaned back.

"I thought we trusted her. . ." Erza said, walking towards Natsu.

"Yeah, we do, but we can't just not complete our job because we believe the girl over the Town. It could shame Fairy Tail." Natsu spoke as if what he was saying was obvious. Lucy nodded, agreeing with Natsu immediately while Gray rolled his eyes and shrugged before walking back towards the Town past Natsu and Erza with Lucy following. Erza gave one last glance to Natsu before hurrying after the near naked boy further down the path.

"Alright then, come straight back when you're done." Happy swooped down and rested himself against Natsu's neck, perched on his left shoulder. There was silence for a few seconds before Natsu spoke again, waiting for the three figures to disappear from sight.

"Don't you think she looks familiar, Happy?" Natsu asked, casting a look at his friend, who lazily glanced back up.

"Aye~" he replied slowly, his eyes drifting shut. Natsu sighed and rolled his eyes, shrugging Happy off his shoulder and onto the warm gravel below. Just then, he heard a twig snap and his head jerked

up to see Chaerin leaning out of the trees in front of him, a little to the left. Happy sparked to life, hurtling behind his rosy-haired buddy. "Ch-Chaerin-chan. . . ?" he spluttered out before laughing shakily and smiling. "I knew it was you, but you scared Natsu, I was protecting him."

"Don't lie, you stupid cat!" Natsu yelled out, his face turning comically angry. "Yahh!" he cried, trying to hit Happy, who's wings had sprouted back and was flying around his friend's head. Chaerin raised one eyebrow, blinking a couple of times before smirking and giggling at the pair.

"You guys are too cute!" she giggled, making Natsu and Happy look over. Natsu's eyes widened and blushed, stopping dead. The smile on the girl's face was genuine and beautiful, the most honest and sweet smile Natsu had seen for a long time, nothing like the glassy-eyed smile from before. "I hope you don't mind that I got my coat too, but here, this is the Indigo Onyx." Chaerin held out her hand, in it was a small, circular, pearl-like object that glittered in the light. It was a very, very deep purple that could be mistaken for black. Natsu walked towards it and snatched it out of Chaerin's hands, he was about to hold it up to take a better look at it, but Chaerin's fist collided with the side of his face before he could do much. Natsu lost grip on the Jewel as he was sent spiralling through the air and into a tree.

"Ow. . ." Natsu groaned, standing up and rubbing the side of his face, that was bulging and purple, looking back at Chaerin who held the Onyx and was glaring at him.

"Take your hands off my Jewel!" Her voice became even deeper, but rougher and scarier, her eyes going darker and her expression reading pure death. Natsu shivered and chewed his lips, nodding and letting a comical happy expression cover his face.

"A-aye, ma'am!" he cheered, throwing his arm around Happy who copied his movements. Chaerin sighed and rolled her eyes. She began to walk on gesturing for them to follow after her, which they did in the same terrified fashion.


	3. Chapter Three

Chapter Three

Natsu didn't like the silence that engulfed the area around him. The air was thick with tension, though he ignored it, walking alongside Chaerin with Happy sat on his shoulder who was slightly cowering away from the latter. Natsu had tried twice to initiate a conversation with the dark haired girl but every time she would answer shortly and glare ahead, not looking at him once. So the air stayed tense and no one spoke. He scowled at her, slowing so she couldn't see him, when she turned to look at him, he stopped making a face, but she caught the change and frowned at him.

"Natsu-san. . . What do you want?" Chaerin sighed, giving up and slowing down to let him catch up.

"Just call me Natsu." Natsu threw his arm over her shoulders again as he approached, resting his hand on her head and looking down at her. He knew her face. It looked so familiar, he thrust his mind back as far it would go but he couldn't quite place her. And Chaerin had the same predicament, only she knew where they met. It was Magnolia. Defiantly. She smiled a little, methodically replacing her memories of the boy. When she was ten, maybe eleven, she remembered meeting a little pink haired boy- looking for a dragon called:

"Igneel." Both Natsu and Chaerin stopped dead, Natsu was staring down at the girl not allowing her to move freely, his knuckle white from clutching her shoulder and stopping her from moving. She turned back to look at him.

"Igneel, did you say Igneel?!" he asked excitedly, his slanted eyes going wide as his hyperactive ness bubbled. "How do you know about him, what do you know about him?!"

"I don't know anything. But I remembered. We met before in Magnolia, right?" Chaerin's smooth voice broke the brightness in the air and let it shatter and be replaced by curiosity and confusion. Natsu stared at Chaerin with questioning eyes and opened his mouth to speak but she butted in. "I was lost because I had never been to Magnolia before, but you found me and helped me find my brother. While we were looking we made a deal, that I would come back to Magnolia and play the piano at your guild and that, then, we could look for Igneel together." Natsu nodded, slowly remembering the little, scared blonde girl he met while running away from Erza. But Chaerin wasn't blonde. Natsu stared at her hair for a minute before shaking his head.

"That little girl had blonde hair and her voice was way higher than yours." he pointed out, but Chaerin rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Whatever, Natsu." Chaerin walked a little faster and they continued to walk in silence.

Erza and Gray stood at the edge of the forest, trying to decide how to tell the Town that they didn't have the Jewel and that were abandoning the mission- unless Natsu got the Jewel off of Chaerin. And that seemed unlikely, why would she protect it as long as she seemed to if she could just let it go in an instant? Erza sighed, glancing at Gray and then back towards Lucy.

"Hurry, Lucy, we don't have time to waste!" called Erza, stepping out of the trees. Gray followed, not waiting for the tired Lucy that was trailing behind. He chased after the redhead who blazed ahead, stomping straight for the house of the Mayor.

"Erza, what exactly is your plan? To tell him that Chaerin's really nice and we can't take the Jewel from her?" Gray said as he caught up with her.

"No, we're going to ask why she has it in the first place. I don't know why but something about her seems off." Erza explained, "And these townsfolk aren't any better. It just seems suspicious." Lucy then caught up behind them, followed by Happy, who had been bored by the silence back with Natsu and Chaerin and had decided to fly over to Erza. Because it's always a party around Erza- always. "Hello, Happy, where are Natsu and Chaerin?" Happy told them about Chaerin and Natsu having met in Magnolia and how Natsu was convinced it was someone else. Gray laughed at that, calling Natsu a dumbass because if she could remember what had happened it had to have been her there. Only Erza was surprised at the news. The way the Town had put it, it seemed like Chaerin had come one day and snatched the Jewel away when she was really young, but if she had a brother that took her to Magnolia, where was he? Had he stolen the Jewel and asked his sister to protect it for him? Had they lived in Magnolia before settling in deserted village? Erza shrugged it off, rapping viciously on the wooden door to the Mayor's house. It echoed on the inside a little before a female voice called out:

"What, what is it that you want?" The door swung open, not revealing a person but a small tabby cat that meowed, yawned and walked out of the house through Gray's legs. Looking up past the cat, they saw a middle aged woman with dark skin, clearly spending a lot of time outdoors, appear and frown at them. "Did you kill the girl, where's the Jewel? Where's the loud boy, he owns us for the window he broke, you know?" the woman rambled, blocking the entrance with her body. "The mayor can't talk right now. . ." she finished, flinching away from Erza's hand as it raised to push the hair out of her face. Erza said nothing, noting the flinch and glancing over her shoulder. She expected Natsu to be there soon, with Chaerin at his heels.

"He doesn't need to talk," Erza replied, airily, "I'll do it for him."

Natsu and Chaerin couldn't speak. No words could come out of their mouths as they stared at what used to be a functioning Town. The remains of it barely looked like it could have been a civilisation had it not been for the people lying in piles of rubble and collapsed buildings, bleeding all over themselves. In the midst of the chaos stood Erza, barely panting, Gray and Lucy along with a brown and cream bull holding a large axe who was snorting heavily. Erza turned around to face the two, giving them a peek of the quivering Mayor, his clasped together in silent prayer for his life.

"Hello, you two, do you have your Jewel, Chaerin?" Erza asked, sweetly, as if the space around her was filled with love, butterflies and daisies. Neither of the two said a word. They slowly turned to look at each other and then back at Erza, before Natsu groaned and stamped towards the mess.

"How come you have all the best fights without me?" he complained, hitting Gray over the back of the head in his annoyance. Gray growled and glared in response, trying to hit Natsu back and starting a fight between them. As they brawled, Chaerin couldn't move, it looked like the destruction was an everyday occurrence with the mages. And Chaerin couldn't help but like the idea of that.

"Could I join?" she asked, quietly, thinking that no matter what they said, they were stuck with her. "Your guild, can I join?" she repeated, a little louder. Erza, the only one who seemed less interested in the sight of the boys fight, (Lucy trying to tear them apart but being dragging into the slapstick mist cloud herself, the bull standing aside and egging them on), smiled at Chaerin and said only one thing:

"Didn't you hear me earlier; welcome to Fairy Tail."

The guild wasn't as grand and amazing as Chaerin had pictured, though it wasn't as brutal as she thought either. Lucy had explained on the way back that recently, the guild had had a run in with another called Phantom Lord, and it had destroyed the guild. All the members were trying to put it back together. She had said something else too, but by that point they were on a train back to Magnolia and Natsu was looking sickly, so Chaerin stopped listening to Lucy and payed more attention to hilarious sight of Sick Natsu. She was wishing she had listened because the guild did not look unlike the Town she had just left. A pile of rubble of the ground, mixed in with large wooden structures. Some guildsmen were working, dragging wood and stone, fixing foundations but mostly, they sat around on lawn chairs swigging beer and laughing with each other. When they got in shouting distance of the largest crowd, Erza called out for Master. A small, elderly man in red and white robes turned to face them with blushed cheeks and drooling lips. In his hand was a bottle of empty beer, which he swung carelessly close to his balding head. As he saw Erza, Natsu and Gray, his face turned serious and slightly worried. He jumped from the pile of stone he sat upon and walked over, noticing Chaerin, who stood next to Natsu with her hands clamped together in her lap.

Makarov took in the new girl, paying close attention to her breasts. She was a black haired girl with skin the colour of very milky coffee and lightly rosy cheeks. Her head was slightly bowed, blocking the sight of her eyes and her long fringe hung just past her breasts in that position with the rest of her hair stretching further. The black leather of her jacket was dusted with silver studs along the thick wrists and padded shoulders. Underneath was a floaty cotton tank top that was a tone lighter than her jet black hair. Her legs were covered by translucent black tights. A black pair of short shorts, with the pockets hanging out from underneath, donned her hips. Her boots were knee high with glittering laces that shone silver like the studs of her jacket. She was a little shorter than Natsu who had one arm lazily cast over her shoulders, while her hands were clasped together in front of her, blocking the design on the clip of her black belt, though Makarov had no doubt it was silver.

"Hello?" he smiled, warmly, "Who's this pretty lady." The girl's head snapped up, revealing light blueish gray eyes that were nearly silver, too.

"Um. . . I'm Chaerin Park. Could I please join your guild?" Makarov smiled. So his brats had brought back another beauty. His smile became perverted and he jumped up to see her better.

"Of course. . . Fairy Tail always welcomes hot girls like you!" Chaerin's cheeks turned impossibly redder, and she buried her face without thought into Natsu's shoulder. It was only then that he realised he had his arm 'round her and let go, pushing away to go and challenge Elfman to battle. Erza smirked at the master who was still hounding Chaerin, before following after Natsu to talk to Mirajane and Cana. That left only Gray to drag the new Fairy away from the master, as Lucy left to talk to Levy when they first got back. After convincing Makarov to get back to his drinking, Gray took Chaerin's wrist and dragged her away.

"I know this place can be pretty intense sometimes, but it's best guild around." Gray explained, letting Chaerin begin to walk in step with him as they toured the grounds. "You should make a team with us, if you're not comfortable going out alone." he offered, smiling down at her, but only seeing her confused face.

"Why would I form a team with you? Do I have to go out?" she asked, looking up at him with cute and curious eyes. Gray was astonished, then he remembered. The little girl had seemingly lived alone for a long while in that Town, no one to join a guild with, but then he wondered how she survived so long.

"Have you never even heard of guilds? Basically, the non-magic folk give us mages jobs to do and pay us for it. We help each other thrive, you see." Gray lead Chaerin over to the "Requset Board", some request sheets that were haphazardly pinned to a wooden frame. "You just pick the one you want, show it to Mirajane-" He pointed to a stunningly beautiful, white haired woman who was being cooed over by Master, "And off you go, either alone or with a team." Chaerin nodded, forcefully, trying to make it seem like she understood, but she didn't. Her brain couldn't wrap around the idea of mages needing money, couldn't they just go jewel-hunting, like in caves. Gray smirked and messed up Chaerin's hair before leaving her at the board while he went to join Natsu and Elfman in the fight. She was about to leave and meet some of her new Nakama when a request caught her eye.

'_REQUEST**: URGENT! **__Basilisk on the loose! Please come to Flourish immediately! Report to Mayor's house. Reward: 3,000 J._' Chaerin walked back, ripping it from the wall and glancing over it, before smiling.

"Natsu! You wanna come on a job with me?!"


	4. Chapter Four

**_Chapter Four_**

Flourish wasn't far from Magnolia, only three hours travel by train. Yet, it seemed much longer, what with Natsu groaning and complaining the whole way and Gray hitting him at every chance, telling him to 'shut the hell up, slanty-eyes'. It was obvious after the first five minutes, before they even got on the train, that Natsu and Gray weren't friends. The only reason Gray agreed to go with them was because 'he didn't want Natsu to get his new Nakama turned to stone by some huge-ass snake'. On the train, when Natsu wasn't choking on his own saliva or holding back vomit, they were arguing and beating each other. Chaerin was beginning to regret denying Lucy's offer to accompany them. It was only when they got off of the train, and they were near Flourish, did Gray and Natsu stop fighting long enough to actually assess the job.

"So, what is a basilisk, anyway?" asked Natsu, kicking his bags along the path in front of him while carrying Chaerin's bag on his shoulder. "Is it a huge fire breathing monkey with wings and talons?" he asked excitedly, turning to face his companions with a large grin. Gray rolled his eyes, overtaking Chaerin to knock Natsu over the head. His hand was shoved in his hand into his pocket.

"You're an idiot. You came on this job without even knowing what it was you were fighting? A basilisk is a big snake that freezes people with its eyes and poisons with its teeth, unless it eats you." Gray said, ignoring the glare Natsu send him.

"You're the idiot! And where are your clothes, droopy-eyes!" he cried, hitting him back. Gray stared with a comically surprised expression, making Natsu half laugh, half glare at him. Chaerin rolled her eyes without even noticing she did it, snatching the job request paper from Natsu's hand and stalking off ahead of the boys with Happy. Happy was sat on Chaerin's shoulder, silent and smiling, making her think he was cutest when not speaking.

"Happy-chan? Why do Natsu and Gray fight like this?" she asked, quietly, walking a little faster and looking back the boys (they payed her no mind as they fought in their cartoonish dust cloud). Happy sprouting his wings, hitting Chaerin with one of the pearly feather ends as he did so, and flew in front of her.

"Lucy thinks it's because of their magic being polar opposites. . ." Chaerin stared at him, expecting him to continue.

"Yes?" she asked, trying to tell him to carry on.

"Yes." Chaerin sighed and stomped ahead of Happy, to be alone. It gave her time to reflect.

She remembered a time when she had wanted to join a certain guild, her brother's guild. Strictly speaking, it wasn't his. It belonged to a woman named Amber Aiko, she took over the guild after her husband perished on a job to defeat a water serpent. The guild was Crow's Lock. The only guild within a thirty-five mile radius of the town she had lived in, so it was lively and full of lots of wizards from different towns. Chaerin had always been in awe of the guild, though she wasn't allowed inside. It was under a large birch tree, enchanted to look like a white oak. The inside of the tree was carved into a staircase and the tree door only opened to the guild password. Of course, Chaerin didn't know what it was (the guild was for people thirteen and over) and her brother was very strict when it came to his guild. Her father was also part of Crow's Lock, as was her mother, once upon a time. Everyday she had waited outside of the tree, on a mossy rock under a nearby tree, with a woven picnic basket that was magically packed with sandwiches for the whole of the guild. She made the sandwiches with her sister after her brother went to the guild, and she waited outside for someone to collect them. She had to do it whether rain or snow, but she loved the look of the tree, she loved the magic of it all. She spent years practicing her magic to make it perfect so she fit in with the guild of genius' (at least that what she thought they were. Her brother, funnily enough, never corrected her). She was content until. . .

Chaerin flinched, batting her hand to the side and connecting the back of it with a face. As she turned, Chaerin saw Natsu leap back holding his faces. He, Gray and Happy were staring at her in surprise.

"W-what?" she snapped, defensively pressing her arms to her chest and cradling her hands. Gray blinked out of the shock and said:

"You were crying, almost, we kept yelling for you but you didn't stop- I don't think you heard us." The weariness in tone made Chaerin frown, but she continued to rub the tears out of her eyes. Natsu, newly recovered, walked forward a little nervously and put his hand on her shoulder, looking dead into her eyes.

"You didn't have to take this job to impress us, Chaerin. All you had to say was that you were scared of monkeys with wings." Gray and Chaerin stared at Natsu with cartoonish shocked expressions before Chaerin sweat dropped and slid out his grasp, with Gray opted with smashing his head against a nearby tree. After a second, Chaerin began to giggle which sent Gray into laughter too.

"You really are a piece of work, Natsu, I swear." she giggled, smiling broadly at the rosy haired boy, she called a companion. "I'm not scared of fire-breathing monkeys, and a basilisk is a snake anyway." Gray snickered in the background , walking up behind Chaerin and throwing his pale arm around her neck like Natsu did. Still chuckling, Gray steered Chaerin away, back to following the path and avoiding the dense rosette who had gone slightly pink, then stomped on behind them.

"So. . . The Requset says to go to the Mayor's house but, which one is that and. . . Is the Mayor even moving?" Chaerin stared at the wreck of a village in front of her. People stood in the streets, frozen solid and staring, bug-eyed, at the destruction. Buildings had been destroyed in a methodical pattern, one not unlike the movements of a humongous snake. She slipped out of Gray's grasp on her shoulders and carefully tiptoed through the damage, snapping her slender fingers in front of people's eyes as she went.

"Be careful, Chaerin, the monster might still be here!" She heard Gray call, as he walked in the other direction to her. Natsu was a while back, still trudging along, feeling unusually dejected. After surveying the nearly a quarter of the small village, Chaerin walked back to the spot where she and Gray had split up, to meet with Natsu who was part of the way, walking towards her.

When he saw her, he smiled and ran over, skidding to a halt in front of her.

"Find something for me to beat up yet, Chaerin?" he asked, excitedly, already engulfing his fists with orange flames. Chaerin sighed and shook her head, telling him she was going to find Gray and ask him the same thing. Natsu nodded, following by her side in silence, when. . . Chaerin shivered, something entered her fifty meter sensory range. She froze, pressing her hand onto Natsu's shoulder and stopping him too. Neither wanted to turn around, she only looked out the corner of her eye until she felt the thing enter the twenty feet radius. She slid her hand down his arm and clutched his elbow shakily.

"Natsu. . ."

"What is it, Chaerin?" Natsu looked down at her and out of the corner of his eye saw something black approaching them, and lighting up his fists, he threw a punch at the thing.

"Karyu no tekken!*" he cried, pushing Chaerin behind him with his spare hand. The creature let out a loud yell and screamed out:

"Ice-Make: Lance!" In response to Natsu. An array of white, ice, javelin-shaped swords fell from the sky, a few slicing through Natsu's skin and shirt. Then, it struck her. It wasn't the basilisk- it was Gray, with Happy flying above his head. She paled and then flushed in embarrassment, realising that she should have felt his presence differently to that a gigantic snake. Hurrying to tear Gray and Natsu apart, Chaerin rushed forward and spluttered apologies to Gray as she went. She threw her arms around Natsu's waist and pulled him close to her, but it only got her dragged into and spat out of the comical dust-cloud fight they were in. Sighing, she rolled her eyes and stamped her foot to the ground hard. The dirt tracks responded to her command and melted underneath the boys. Both cried out as the burning liquid splashed around them. They tried to climb out but all around them was liquified. Gray turned to look at Chaerin and yelled at her, struggling across the lake of dark brown mud toward her. She chuckled, snapping her fingers and turning the mud rock-hard. With half of his left hand and his neck and head being the only things able to move, Gray began to shout obscenities at Chaerin instead. Natsu was still unable to see the sliver-and-black girl, as he was facing away from her and hadn't paid attention to Gray when he left to catch her. Chaerin grinned at Gray, flicking her black locks over her shoulder and taking off her jacket, throwing it over his head. She, then, waltzed across the solid earth and ruffled Natsu's pink hair, using her foot, with a loud laugh, smiling at Happy who laughed beside her.

Not paying anymore attention to the world around her, Chaerin danced back over to Gray, revealing his head from under the leather of her jacket and kicking dirt from where it wasn't solid at him, trying to hit his eye. Soon, her boots became brown with earth, so she blew it off, turning it to gas with a wave of her hand.

"What are doing? We have to find the Mayor and stop the basilisk!" snapped Gray, glaring at the pale girl and trying to fight himself loose.

"I'm just showing you that you shouldn't fight while I'm trying to do a job- it's annoying." Chaerin sighed, "And I don't know much about Natsu, but shouldn't he be able to melt the dirt away." Gray smirked and nodded.

"Yeah. . . He is an idiot, though." And with those words, Chaerin snapped her fingers and Gray and Natsu above the ground. When he was securely back on the floor, Natsu ran at Chaerin, fists burning as he yelled at her. She easily dodged his hands, the ends of her hair burning as they didn't quite miss the fist. But instead of missing everything else and falling to the ground, Natsu hit something hard. Everyone froze for a moment, unsure of what was happening, until Gray looked up at the 'wall' Natsu had hit.

"It's the basili-" Gray was cut off, stopping in the middle of the word, frozen stiff. Chaerin cried out in alarm.

"Crap! Gray! Natsu, c'mon we gotta get outta here!" Chaerin slurred her words in panic, as she scrambled towards Gray and threw her arms around him, tugging him away with her.

"What, no! This bastard's gotta pay, you don't mess with Fairy Tail." Natsu smirked, seeming to not want vengeance- just a good fight, ran back and sucked in a large breath and- He froze solid. Chaerin felt his presence stop moving and heard Happy cry out: 'Natsu'. She stiffened, her arms turning feeble as she turned to face her new ally. At the sight of his frozen body, leaned back and still in position to take in air, she dropped Gray's body with a substantial thud. She couldn't breathe and dared not look any further than Natsu. She heard the loud hisses of the basilisk and flinched.

"Happy! Get Natsu and follow me, okay!" she snapped, trying to regain herself, bending down to gather Gray and hurrying back the way she came, ignoring the hissing of the snake and the wood cracking as it followed after her. "Faster!" she cried, shakily, as much to Happy as to herself. She doubled round a house, watching the end of the snake flick large window panes to the side and breathed a quiet sigh of relief as the monster continued on its journey.

"Well, this quite the first mission!" Chaerin felt a hand cover her mouth as she screamed, "Be quiet. Don't want that beast coming back, eh, Chaerin-chan."

*Fire Dragon's Iron Fist


	5. Chapter Five

**_Chapter Five_**

Chaerin flattened her back against the remains of a brick wall, glaring back at the person and attempting to bite their hand of the person. Until she realised it was Erza.

"Erza-san?" Chaerin murmured, muffled against the hand. As a piece of red hair fell over her eye, Erza smiled.

"Erza, what are you doing here?" he whined. Chaerin nodded, slipping out of Erza's tight grip to look around for the snake-monster.

"I'm here because Master asked me to keep an eye on you." Erza said, flicking her hair away, "And on Natsu and Gray, of course." she added, catching Chaerin's gaze. Then, she turned her attention to the two boys in question, frozen solid and both with their eyes wide open. Chaerin couldn't help but shiver at the eerie gaze into nothing that was held on their faces.

"Hey, Erza-san, will they be alright?" Chaerin whispered, cautiously leaning the stony Gray against the wall beside her and then peeking around the corner to look for the basilisk. It was no where in sight- and to be honest, Chaerin was pretty sure she would be able to see a giant snake if it were around. She focused on the space around, upping the sensitivity of her Sensory Radar (though also making the range smaller), to see if the monster was close by. It wasn't, so Chaerin went back to Erza.

"Of course, if we really can't find anyway to help them, we'll go to Porlyusica-sama and she'll help us out." Erza replied, taking Natsu from Happy's paws and hugging him to her metal-clad breast. He hit it with a nasty clunk. Chaerin cringed, slightly; terribly aware that the boys may still be able to feel and hear and think.

"Erza-san? Do yo-"

"Erza. Just call me Erza." she cut in, making Chaerin's trail of thoughts drift off for a moment. She wondered why everyone in Fairy Tail was so casual about their names and the lack of honourific. They really were like a family.

"Okay, erm, Erza," Chaerin tried, "Do you think we can beat that basilisk? I mean, no offence, but if we can't see it, how are we supposed to fight it?" Erza nodded, thoughtfully, dropping Natsu from her clutch and onto the ground.

"We could throw fish at it and then it will befriend us because everyone loves fish!" cried Happy, grinning his stupid, cat grin. Chaerin sweatdropped at the cat creature and sent him a false smile.

"Good idea, Happy-chan, but wouldn't you just want to eat the fish so we wouldn't have anything to throw?" she asked as politely as she could manage (while talking to a winged cat person. . . Thing. . .). Erza, still nodding, swatted at Happy absentmindedly. The cat then burst into to crocodile tears and flew away on pure wings, complaining that everyone was being mean to him.

"Happy!" called Erza, not sounding the least bit apologetic, "Come back, we might need you as snake bait! Can you pretend to be a mouse?" Chaerin's mouth hung open as she watched Happy fly about above Erza's head as she jumped about the catch him, nearly yanking off his pretty blue tail.

Rustle. Chaerin's head shot from side to side as she heard a rustle. Silently and as motionlessly as possible, she focused her Sensory Radar on the 10 metres around her. Behind her, slightly to the left, was a small person, hiding behind a pile of rubble, it's breathing was quick as gas particles flew from the solid at a fast rate. She smirked, not moving at all as she then focused her mind on the spot three meters behind her and a foot behind the person. Chaerin pictured every single detail of herself being in that spot and then snapped her fingers and 'teleported' to the spot. She heard the person gasp in shock. Diving forward, she landed on the tiny body, pinning it down as she straddled it. It was a young boy, brown hair covering his scruffy, mud-soaked face. He coughed twice as a small could of dust made his hazel eyes water.

"Hey, wait!" he cried, hoarsely, wiggling to free himself, "You're a wizard, right?" Chaerin nodded slowly, narrowing her eyes at the child. "I'm Hiro, the Mayor's son." Chaerin nodded, watching his every movement as she got off of him. By this point, Erza had made her way over and watched, silently, from beside Chaerin.

"Yeah, we're from Fairy Tail." Hiro brushed himself off, sending a flurry of dried mud showering over the cobbles.

"You're going help, then? Perfect. I can take you to the Basilisk's nest, it's just outside the Town." Hiro explained, hurriedly, his eyes wide with hope and excitement. Erza stepped forward nodding with a smile.

"Yes. Thank you, take us right away." she told him, turning on her heel to lift Natsu. She raised him over her right shoulder, while hauling Gray along under her left arm. Both Hiro and Chaerin were amazed at this feat of strength (Happy, being used to it, was just relieved to be free of Erza), though Chaerin had the sense not to show it.

"Wow, Miss, you're super strong!" Hiro mused, following after Erza, his eyes glittering with amazement. Chaerin smiled warmly at the back of him. When they were out of earshot, she muttered to herself:

"You look just like Danny, but with brown hair, you know." She sighed, happily, reminiscing, when-

"Who's Danny?"

"Ack! N-no one, go away, Happy-chan!" she cried, resting her hand on her chest in surprise before glaring at the blue cat and stomping away after the redhead and her new dazzled disciple.

Hiro took the lead, a while into their trip, striding ahead, powerfully while Chaerin and Erza quizzed him on what happened to the Town.

"Well, one day, Michael the Hunter, came back from his trek in the forest and said he saw this huge nest in the middle of the forest, you see." Hiro stopped, looking left and right before turning to the latter and walking on, "So, Dad and Mom went back with Michael and Nekoosa the Veterinary Surgeon, who knows all about animals, to see it. Nekoosa said it was a snake nest and that we shouldn't touch or go near it, but one guy Masashi knew there was high profit in snake eggs and since the nest was huge, he figured the eggs would be too." Hiro paused to turn to the two women following close and listening intently to every word. He felt special.

"So, Hiro-kun, what happened next?" asked Chaerin, putting the pieces together in her head as to watch happened.

"Well, one night, he went to the nest with Michael, who was really proud of his discovery and showed it to everyone who asked. Then, Masashi knocked Michael out and saw one huge snake egg in the nest. He took and then ran away. The next day, Michael woke up and ran back into the town, screaming about Michael and what happened, but Michael had come back and had hidden the egg so no one would find it. He was cleared because everyone thought Michael just had concussion." Hiro took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He pressed his finger to his lips, pointing forward into a hollow. 'In there' he mouthed, pushing his muddy back against the bark of a nearby tree and watching the two girls approach the opening.

Erza went in first, requipping her armour to be a more camouflaged one (pretty risqué and barely anything there). Chaerin followed after, swiping her hand across a tree and turning to the a brown sludgy liquid that followed her warm, outstretched hand in the form of a wet ball. She turned back, sending a comforting smile to Hiro and then at the two stiff figures that were beside him- Gray and Natsu. 'We'll help you, I promise,' she thought to herself turning back to Erza. And, Lord, was the sight that met her eyes a frightful one. The nest, was made of bent, splintering trees, woven together to make a terrifically large bird's nest. It was taller than Chaerin and nearly as wide as the cove it stood in. Inside the nest was an egg. Clean white and smooth, tucked into the corner next to another one, both about the size of three Erza's standing beside each other.

"Holy. . . Crap." Chaerin hissed, marvelling at the structure.

"C'mon, this is no time to admire. We must find that monster and kill it soon. For Fairy Tail and for Natsu and Gray." Erza said, calmly but with high amounts of control. Not used to being told what to do, Chaerin felt a tug of reluctance, rebellion, as she followed after her scantily-clad Nakama. "Hiro-kun, stay here and guard Natsu and Gray, if anything happens, Happy carry Hiro-kun out of danger. Call us or send Happy of the basilisk returns." Erza commanded, her voice radiating authority. Chaerin grinned, pushing her hand through her tangled hair and swiping it out of her face. Then she turned to Erza.

"I'll leave a trail so we can get back here faster okay, so just follow me if we need to get back quick." Erza sent Chaerin one final grin before the two of them sprinted off in the direction of fallen trees, leaving a trail of molten tree behind.


End file.
